Tweed Suits and Tea Cups
by mizukiryu73
Summary: The past informs the future as it shapes the now. If this holds true, what sort of past makes a Watcher? Journal!Fic for NaNoWriMo.
1. Have I Ever Told You

It is a familiar scene for him, the pervasive quiet of his empty apartment aided by the obessive cleanliness that holds most of the space in thrall. The only place marred by disorder was his desk, and even there organization prevailed, as the books were stacked in terms of usefulness to his Slayer, so that any information he required on the monsters she fought was close at hand.

But today found his desk shockingly cleared, as by now those books had found new homes on the bookshelves, following the arrival of his Slayer's pompous new Watcher, Wendam-Pryce. No, today he sat at his desk nursing a bourbon, staring at the blank page of a journal, his pen taping a steady rythm against the desk.

Slowly, he lifted the glass to his lips again, feeling the burn of the alcohol sliding down his throat only distantly as he contemplated the current direction of his thoughts. After all, he'd never exactly considered writing it down, never considered wanting to, however symbolically, tell anyone any part of his story.

But this entire incident with his Slayer gaining the ability to read minds, no matter how devestating said ability was, had sparked something in him. Had sparked a desire to preserve his memories in such a way. Even though the longer he sat at his desk, the more sure he become that he would likely immediatly lock it away once he was done. If he could ever stop vacillating between yes and no.

Eventually, a self-depricating sigh forced its way past his lips, even as his lips quirked up in a half smirk at how his thoughts circled around his mind pointlessly. Setting the now empty glass down with a desicive clink, he pulled the journal a little closer and began to write.

_Buffy, have I ever told you ..._

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AN: I have, for the first time ever, decided to write a NaNoWriMo story. First time. Ever. That said, I'm hoping that this'll pull me out of my funk for my other stories, plus get my muse off of my back as to this particular bunny.

That being said, this is a BtVS & HP crossover. Yes, the main charatcer is Giles. Yes he is a wizard from HP. Yes, if you read author profiles, or any of my other stories (which you totally should) you can probably guess _who _Giles'll be. I don't care. I'm not putting it into the actual summary, at least not until I officially put it in the story, so feel free to leave a review with your guess. Not that you shouldn't review anyway, because this is my first really under pressure story, and I want to know how I'm doing.

Actually, this is where I should probably warn people. This is going to be a series of journal entires, and told almost entirely in first person from here on out. If you don't like that, please don't flame me unless you can be constructive about it.

Alright, I'll stop there. Wish me luck!

~Ja ne!

_Words: 306/50000_


	2. I See The Moon

Buffy, have I ever told you that you are entirely to perceptive for your own good?

I can only be grateful that your mind reading was largely passive, and garnered you only the most surface of the thoughts on anyone's mind. In part, rather selfishly, I might add, this is because, while I am not happy at the direction some of mine, or, appearently, your mother's for that matter, took, I am ... pleased, I suppose, that on the whole my deeper memories were safe.

Not that you didn't catch my thoughts of what happened to Luna. Like I said, too perceptive by far, and, yes, I did hear you muttering about who she could be. Although, it is safe for me to say she and I were not, how do Willow put it, 'making with the smootchies', as your mumbling implied.

Levity aside, I suppose I could start there, although it is not an ideal nor an auspicious starting point. Still, she was ... important, in her own way and if I don't write about her now, it is likely I never will.

She was ... a friend? Yes, but more than that, she was a compatriot in a war that started long before either of us were born and dragged on far longer than it should have. Not to mention, she was something of a seer, which, not incidentally, made most people consider her quite mad, even on the best of days. Still, she was brillant and a good friend, for all of her oddities. And that, perhaps is why what happened to her fills me with so much shame.

You might think it hasty, or simply hurtfully untruthful for me to lay all the blame at my own feet, but it is entirely justified. For anyone else I could blame is dead, either by our enemies hand, or my own.

In many ways, her fate is but one of many that my conscience bears unflinchingly.

Already, I can feel myself wanting to draw away, to dance around the topic, so I shall be blunt. She was tortured, horrifically. All because I could not protect her, could not keep her safe.

In all honesty, it would have been merciful to kill her than to try and save her, when we finally found her. As harsh as that may seem now, she was forced to survive months of nearly constant visions before the strain on her mind and magic caused her body to cave under the pressure. And that says nothing of the physical torture she also endured.

Now you see, why I thought of her when I learned of what could happen to you. Because I know exactly what that level of mental ... reconstruction can do in the long term.

But, I suppose now that I have told you of Luna, I should find a place a little bit closer to the beginning to continue this.

* * *

AN: Slow and steady, I suppose. Otherwise I'll never get this done! Anyhow, here is chapter 2, not much longer, but I'm working on that!

I should probably stop picking on my characters though...

Anyway, all changes to canon will be explained as the chapters continue, so I won't put it all into a AN unless I miss something at the end of all this. I mean, as long as it doesn't give anything away I'll answer questions as they come up, but not before!

That said, anymore guesses as to who Giles is? Don't hestitate to drop a review with ideas or comments!

~Ja ne!

_ Words: 489 - 795/50000_


	3. History Lesson

Of course, saying I that shall start closer to the beginning leaves me with something of a conundrum. Largely because there is no definitive starting point. If I start with _my _story, a great deal of the motivation and history will be glossed over, leaving you in the dark on several points. If I start with _his _story, the connections still might seem too vague. And if I decide to beginning with the complete, although somewhat contested, beginninng I fear I shall end up boring you with an overabundance of the details.

I do suspect that some sort of easy compromise will be found once I begin writing.

You or, as is far more likely, Willow, will find it interesting to know that there are schools for magic in every country. The smallest may have only one, but every magical nation has a school. More importantly, however, is the premier magical school of Britain, Hogwarts. While its standing in relation to the educational standards of the Wizarding World is not to be discounted, because it was a very good school, that is not solely why it was considered a premier school in Europe. No, the reason for its premier status was because it was the first school outside Rome and Greece that _survived_.

* * *

You see, of course, that even in writing, I cannot quite keep myself from the habit of exposition. (However, for your sake, I shall try to be briefer than I am in real life.)

To that end, I shall inform you that Hogwarts was founded by two wizards - Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin - and two witches - Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. For many years, the four ran the school successfully, until Salazar began expressing his doubts about allowing into the school those children born to nonmagicals.

Eventually it got to the point where he and the other founders spilt over the issue, and Slytherin left the castle. And at the time, nothing much came of it, although Slytherin did preach for complete seperation. However, as the centuries went on, his views became the rallying cry for several Dark Lords across Europe who were waging their own personal wars against both mundanes and their magical children.

That was until the final war on British soil. Called the Blood Wars, there were two distinct periods of fighting. Rather unimaginatively, the Wizarding world calls them the First and Second Blood Wars. The first began in the midst of World War II, or maybe it only became apparent then. Much of its true beginnings are shrouded in mystery because of the fact that there were two Dark Lords waging war at the same time.

The eldest was Grindelwald, who rose to power after World War I and fell during World war II. The second, and more important to this particular tale, was Lord Voldemort, the pseudomyn of Tom Riddle. He, of course, truly rose to power following the downfall of Grindelwald. However, with how quickly he rose it is almost certain that he had been building a substantial power base long before then, although even I don't know the exact dates.

Quickly, however, he became know for ruthlessness and brutality. By the close of the First Blood War, dozens of wizarding families had been completely wiped out and the number of casualties in the mundane world that are directly related most likely number into the thousands. But, those deaths cannot be fully measured because no one knows the exact numbers.

Due to this, not to mention his frankly astonishing and terrifying rise to power, most people of magical Britian refused to call him by his name, instead choosing the always confusing moniker of You Know Who. Or, even more obtusely, He Who Must Not Be Named. Moving on, however, this section of the war came to a rather abrupt end in the summer of 1955 because of a prophecy and a small child.

* * *

AN: Well, as my birthday present from me to me, I'm finally posting the next chapter. (And you know, beginning to doubt my sanity in starting this project.) That said, it would be nice if I got a few more guesses. *hinthint*

Anyway, I know I'm royally mucking up the HP timeline to make it fit in with the show's, but hopefully its not too convoluted. Plus, I wanted it to be clear and consise (even though I should let myself wax on and on and on) because I always hate when people cover back story everyone knows.

Also, I probably should have said this before, but this isn't betaed. I do proofread, but basically I write it out in a notebook, then type it up and post it. Plus when I'm typing I make changes as I go along, so mistakes are made. Notice something? Let me know and I'll fix it.

Hope everyone's still enjoying the ride, and please don't forget to review!

~Ja ne!

Words: 655 - 1450/50000


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